Trouble with early divots

[jjvoit]

I am having an issue the last few times out which seems to have plagued my whole swing now, where I am taking at least a 2-3 inch long divot before the ball, sometimes not even hitting the ball or at least not hitting it solid. I took some video and seems like my hands are coming through too quick and not with the rest of my body, hips, shoulders. Any other thoughts. My driver is fine and wedges are fine, mainly 2,4,5,6,7 is having problems. I hit it fine off the tee as well other than pulling the ball left, almost like an exaggerated draw.

Jason

[BC MIST]

I am having an issue the last few times out which seems to have plagued my whole swing now, where I am taking at least a 2-3 inch long divot before the ball, sometimes not even hitting the ball or at least not hitting it solid. I took some video and seems like my hands are coming through too quick and not with the rest of my body, hips, shoulders. Any other thoughts. My driver is fine and wedges are fine, mainly 2,4,5,6,7 is having problems. I hit it fine off the tee as well other than pulling the ball left, almost like an exaggerated draw.
Jason

The fact that you are hitting down on the ball and taking a divot is a good thing.

One of the three essential characteristic of good impact is to have the hands ahead of the ball at impact and from your description, this is likely not happening. Another essential is having the club head approach the ball slightly from inside the intended target line, but your last sentence above indicates that you are pulling the ball left, which means that your arms/right shoulder are causing the club head path to come into the ball from the outside and so your wrists are prematurely straightening. Fix the outside in path and you are likely to fix the fat shot problems.

Often you will see golfers who hit way behind the ball, not have any shifting of the weight forward on the downswing causing the upper body to fall back and hitting behind the ball results.

One further point is that, except at address, the left wrist is flat while the right wrist is bent or flexed backwards, to some degree, during all swings. This encourages a later hit which for you means no fat shots, and a better club head path.

I hit it fine off the tee as well other than pulling the ball left, almost like an exaggerated draw. This is not possible. A pull is a straight flying shot that starts left of your intended target and keeps going that way. The path of the club head is outside in and the club face is square to the outside in path, but closed to the intended target line. It does not curve. A draw on the other hand is a shot that flies right of your target line and curves back to your target line. It is caused by an inside club head path where the club face is slightly open at impact and square at separation of the ball and club face.

Some golfers who hook the ball just aim to the right and their hook curves the ball back to the centre. They call this a DRAW. Not so. It is still a hook for which the golfer compensates by aiming right. Golfers who aim straight and hit the ball off the toe of the driver will see the ball start right and draw back to the middle because of the roll that is built into the face. This is also a draw because the portion of the face that contacts the ball, ie., the toe end, is aiming right of the target line, even though the centre of the face may be aiming down the target line.

If roll and bulge were not built into our drivers we would never get a tan.

[Deep Woods]

I am having an issue the last few times out which seems to have plagued my whole swing now, where I am taking at least a 2-3 inch long divot before the ball, sometimes not even hitting the ball or at least not hitting it solid.

It shoulds like you have a few things going on. A set of lessons is a good idea, so that:
1) you understand swing mechanics
2) you dont ingrain the bad habits you HAVE right now any more.

Considering we all pay $45 + for a round of golf, I've never understood golfers who refuse lessons til its too late.

That said, there are a few things that might help. A weighted club is a good practice tool that helps reduce the OVER THE TOP swing you have (which is creating the pulls/hooks). It also helps if you understand what an inside-to-out swing path is (consult many references in this forum).

As for hitting behind the ball, you probably are not (1) getting the hands ahead (as BC mist said), COMBINED WITH (2) transfering your weight. When finished your swing, ALMOST all your weight should be on your forward foot. You should be able to lift your back foot without falling down.

Study the finished position of a golfer, and aim to get to that position. Even taking a step forward towards your target is better than what most golfers do (stay on their back foot during the swing and after). Go the driving range, and do practice swings where you actually step towards your target as you hit the ball...see if its helps...OH, AND PRACTICE OFF THE GROUND...the mats will lie to you.

[1972Apex]

Well, I can't compete with the knowledgable answers above. I hope this doesn't sound too simple...
A common tendancy when taking early divots is for the player to move the ball back in their stance to compensate. In actuality this just makes your swing steeper and exagerates the problem.
I find when I have that problem the solution is to move the ball forward. Promotes a better weight transfer to the front leg and a shallower divot. Always remember, everything in the golf swing is backwards...

[broken27]

I think that all these answers to date will help me out at least, if not jjvoit who originally asked.

I've noticed one thing that may be of help (depending on how good you already are jjvoit...). I find that sometimes I get into a state of mind where I am so focused that I actually "plan" on taking a divot during my stroke. Then in mid-swing, I either drop down into a more sitting position, causing the club's swing plane to dip dramatically and begin a divot about 3 inches behind the ball. The second motion I get is while trying to drop the club back into the desired swing plane (the inside out mentioned by BC MIST and Deep Woods), I relax my shoulders to the point where I actually add arm length in relation to my stance. This causes me to come in from the outside, and get the pull-hook action you're describing above. I also find those divots begin about 3 inches behind.

To qualify how much stock you should put into what I say, I'm a 21 handicap and working upwards at the moment. But I'm having similar issues as you.

Cheers,
Dan

[Andru]

I am having an issue the last few times out which seems to have plagued my whole swing now, where I am taking at least a 2-3 inch long divot before the ball, sometimes not even hitting the ball or at least not hitting it solid. I took some video and seems like my hands are coming through too quick and not with the rest of my body, hips, shoulders. Any other thoughts. My driver is fine and wedges are fine, mainly 2,4,5,6,7 is having problems. I hit it fine off the tee as well other than pulling the ball left, almost like an exaggerated draw.

Jason

The answer is simple. Stop hitting the ground first.

[Marmotte]

I am having an issue the last few times out which seems to have plagued my whole swing now, where I am taking at least a 2-3 inch long divot before the ball, sometimes not even hitting the ball or at least not hitting it solid. I took some video and seems like my hands are coming through too quick and not with the rest of my body, hips, shoulders. Any other thoughts. My driver is fine and wedges are fine, mainly 2,4,5,6,7 is having problems. I hit it fine off the tee as well other than pulling the ball left, almost like an exaggerated draw.

Jason

I have a similar problem developing... usually on the back nine as I am getting tired. Seems that the culprit in my case is the grip that is getting weaker on the top hand, and creates havoc on my long iron shots... they tend to get fat and the divots gets longer (5 to 7 inches).

[Big_duck]

I have a similar problem developing... usually on the back nine as I am getting tired. Seems that the culprit in my case is the grip that is getting weaker on the top hand, and creates havoc on my long iron shots... they tend to get fat and the divots gets longer (5 to 7 inches).

In your case, you are just burrowing, for you it is instinct..

Quack Quack.

[jjvoit]

This may be a cause of playing too much golf in a short period of time, I played 7 rounds from thursday to monday and the chunks, so to speak, started happening more frequently on Monday, not more frequently, always. Could not hit the ball at all. This after playing well on Sunday although still having some trouble with the long irons off the fairway. My 2 iron off the tee is long and straight,no issues at all, off the fairway I may be trying to over hit as well. mainly when I do it is on par 5's, I drove the ball well that day and on all par 5's had 190-205 in, on 480-520 yd par 5's. Possibly a 5 or 7 wood is the answer as I don't have an issue hitting my 3 wood off the fairway. As for the pulling it is not as bad as it sounds, I am doing it once or twice a round, but enough to warrant attention. Thanks for all the feedback.

[jjvoit]

Thanks for all the help, I'm glad I found this site, knowlegeable and has a sense of honesty to it, unlike others.

About 6-7 holes into my last round, my buddy who I had never golfed with just told me to trust my swing, amazingly that worked. I ended up shooting an 84, which is good for me, on a tough (if you don't hit it straight) mountain course outside of Calgary, Stewart Creek. Sometimes I think we focus too much on mechanics and not enough on the mental part of the game, I have to try and balance it out a little better.

[Andru]

Thanks for all the help, I'm glad I found this site, knowlegeable and has a sense of honesty to it, unlike others.

About 6-7 holes into my last round, my buddy who I had never golfed with just told me to trust my swing, amazingly that worked. I ended up shooting an 84, which is good for me, on a tough (if you don't hit it straight) mountain course outside of Calgary, Stewart Creek. Sometimes I think we focus too much on mechanics and not enough on the mental part of the game, I have to try and balance it out a little better.

That's the spirit. Paralysis from Analysis.

[Deep Woods]

About 6-7 holes into my last round, my buddy who I had never golfed with just told me to trust my swing, amazingly that worked. I ended up shooting an 84, which is good for me, on a tough (if you don't hit it straight) mountain course outside of Calgary, Stewart Creek.

Nice score...nice to get out of the chunks...and good advice...leave the thinking for the driving range.